Analysis of Gaseous By-Products of CFI and CFI-CO after High Voltage Arcing Using a GCMS.

Increasing demand for an alternative insulation medium to sulphur hexafluoride (SF) has led to the investigation of new environmentally friendly insulation gases which could be used in high voltage equipment on the electrical power network. One such alternative, which is currently being explored by researchers, is Trifluoroiodomethane (CFI) which could potentially be used in a gas mixture with carbon dioxide (CO) as an insulation medium. In this paper an analysis of gaseous by-products detected as a result of high voltage breakdown through pure CFI and a CFI-CO gas mixture across a sphere-sphere electrode arrangement is given.